Phantom: The Hidden Remnant
by EmmerzK
Summary: Sequel to Phantom: Harnessing Potential. When Wilbur is suddenly targeted by an unknown enemy who knows his every move and detail, he begins a search. Through this suspenseful adventure, he finds he must rely on his own powers and can only trust his closest companions to survive this adventure. Or can he? Rated T for action-violence/suspense
1. Missing Information

**Hellooooo my faithful fans! Welcome to the second installment to my Phantom series! This story is going to be packed with tons of suspense and twists, and more Willet fluff! This is going to be a great ride and I can't wait for it to get started ;) Hope you enjoy and keep up the great reviews!**

**To anyone who is new, PLEASE read Phantom: Harnessing Potential FIRST! You will be so lost and confused! This first chapter refers to stuff from that story and it's important you know who characters are. And it's an awesome story, if I do say so myself. You'll love it. Check that out first, then come back to this one ;)**

**Well, onto awesomeness!**

**~EmK/EmmerzK**

**P.S. Hope you like the title font! I thought this was all kinda boring, so I thought I'd spruce it up a bit ;) Hehe**

**Phantom: The Hidden Remnant**

**Chapter 1: Missing Information**

The roaring plane landed and gradually pulled up to the walkway for passengers to exit the plane. Wilbur and Violet Robinson stood at the fifty foot high glass window inside the terminal, waiting for their friends to exit the plane.

Snow flurried across the land, creating a beautiful atmosphere. However, the beauty didn't prevent them from having to bundle against the twenty degree weather—Wilbur was wearing a thick black leather jacket and jeans and Violet wore a warm knitted hat and gloves with her brown suede jacket, dark green skinny jeans and tan boots.

Soon enough passengers began exiting the plane and Violet began bouncing on her toes in excitement. Wilbur grinned at her inability to hold still. Finally their best friends, Kevin and Shannon, walked out of the walkway and into the terminal. Both of their faces lit up when they saw the Robinsons.

Shannon squealed and ran to Violet, leaving her new husband behind, "Ahh Vi! I'm so glad you guys came!" The young women hugged and laughed as the two guys also hugged. The girls exchanged hugs with the two other guys as well, and the group walked to the baggage return, Kevin and Shannon relaying everything they saw on their honeymoon to Hawaii.

"Wil, we're going there next." Violet presently announced, holding Wilbur's hand.

"Been there, done that, babe." Wilbur smirked.

Violet rolled her eyes to Shannon as Kevin retrieved the bags. "The perks of being married to a millionaire—he's been everywhere!"

Wilbur brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers before replying, "Not everywhere."

Violet yanked her hand away with a playful smirk, "Oh stop it." He merely shrugged his eyebrows at her in return.

"I miss Hawaii already—the warmth, the food, the ocean, the warmth, the sun, the warmth." Kevin mused.

"Yeah…" Wilbur nodded wistfully. "It definitely needs to warm up here soon. Can't take much more of this."

"Agreed." Violet rubbed her hands together as they prepared to walk outside.

The two couples quickly made their way to the vehicles since the wind was starting to pick up. "Is it okay to fly or are they warning against it?" Kevin asked after loading the baggage in the truck of his and Shannon's car.

Wilbur replied, "They're saying it's fine, but my dad warned against it. The companies are saying the flying mechanisms can take it, but coming from the man who invented it, he said he'd rather you didn't."

"Good enough for me." Kevin smiled, holding out a fist. Wilbur accepted the fist bump in goodbye before Kevin hopped in the car and started it up. Shannon and Violet gave each other a hug goodbye before Shannon hopped in with Kevin.

Kevin rolled down the window before pulling away, "Oh, and thanks for keeping watch over everything while we were gone."

"No problem!" Violet smiled.

"See you later!" Wilbur gave a short wave as they left.

Wilbur reached down and interlocked his cold fingers with Violet's as they walked to their car a few aisles away. Violet frowned, "Wow, your hands are really cold." She brought his hand to her lips and began blowing on them.

Glancing around first, he replied, "It's the plasma—doesn't like the cold." With a short smirk, he added, "However, I think my lips are colder though."

A gloved finger landed on his lips firmly before he could move closer—his eyes met hers and his smirk matched hers. In fake patience and with an eyebrow raised, she asked, "What is it with you today?"

Wilbur reached up and held her hand that was still in front of her face. Slowly removing it, he smiled at her gingerly, "I just love you."

A visible, bright red tone came to her cheeks in the cold, windy air and she breathed a laugh. Shaking her head she pulled him towards the car. "Come on, you—I'm cold."

Wilbur laughed and opened her car door. He closed it behind her before running around to the driver's side and hopping in. He started the car and began driving home—the Robinson mansion. The couple hadn't yet moved out; they had decided to live in the mansion with the rest of the family for a while until they felt it was time to get their own place.

Violet watched the winter wonderland pass by as they drove. Everything was white—the sky, the ground, vehicles they passed or that flew above, store fronts, sidewalks, absolutely everything.

She looked over at her husband driving and couldn't help but smile. Just like the first day she met him, her heart felt warmer every time she looked at him. His right arm was resting on the center console, his hand hanging off the edge, so she reached up and held it with her own. A smile came to his face at the touch, but he kept his eyes on the snowy road.

"Wil?"

"Hm?"

Violet paused, hoping the question wouldn't seem weird. "Do you think this will ever end?" His eyebrows went down in confusion, so she elaborated, "Like… the newlywed feeling?"

"Oh." Wilbur chuckled.

Violet continued, "Like, they always say it does. I mean, couples can't and won't be all "lovey-dovey" forever."

Wilbur kept smiling and watching the road, but squeezed her hand when he said, "I'm sure the newlywed feeling will go away at least to an extent. But not the happiness I feel knowing that I have you." He looked over at her with a loving smile, glancing back at the road every few seconds.

Warmness felt her cheeks again and she smiled, satisfied with his answer. "I'd kiss you right now, but sadly you're driving."

"Heh yeah, wouldn't want to get distracted now would we?" He smirked, looking back at the road.

Just to humor and tease him, Violet leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek. When she pulled back, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders with a playful smirk and kept her close. Violet giggled and he looked over at her again.

However, just when he did, Violet saw a small, dark figure run across the road right in front of the car.

"BRAKE!" she gasped, eyes wide.

Wilbur's eyes lit up instantly and he slammed on the brakes. The car slid a few feet but stopped just in front of the figure—the couple could only thank the heavens no drivers were behind them.

The couple both panted, trying to catch their breath from the impending terror. Wilbur forced his sixth sense to fade and his eyes turned to normal so the figure in front of the vehicle didn't see anything. Placing a hand on Vi's shoulder, he asked calmly, "You alright?"

Violet shakily nodded, "Yeah… it just scared me."

Looking in front of the car, the couple then realized that they knew the figure standing calmly in front of the vehicle. However it took them a few moments considering it was a German Shepherd. The only tell-tale sign of who it was was his bold green collar, the name K9 engraved on the golden chain.

Wilbur sighed heavily. "Conner." The super merely stood there, staring back at them, obviously waiting for them to get out.

"Do we change?" Violet asked.

Wilbur thought for a moment but decided against it. "Not yet."

He opened his car door and got out; Violet quickly hopped out and they both walked up to the super, now sitting in the middle of the road and scratching an ear. Violet looked behind their car and there was still no one on the road behind them or passing from the other direction. It was close to seven at night—people had probably all gone home to get out of the nasty weather.

Still, Wilbur approached him cautiously, in case they were being watched. No one could know that he knew K9's identity. Crouching down, he gently patted the super's head for the sake of being casual, even though he knew that Conner hated being pet. He merely sat there, staring at his face, and didn't fidget—it was a sign to stop petting him when he began fidgeting.

Finally though, he reached up a paw and pushed Wilbur's hand away, making Wilbur smile a little. But K9 then bit the sleeve of his jacket and began pulling him in the direction of the ditch.

"What? What do you want?" Wilbur asked in confusion. K9 let go of his sleeve, gave a short whine and bounded off into the ditch. He ran close to ten feet away and stopped, looking back at him quizzically. When neither super on the road with empty vehicle moved, both utterly confused, K9 barked loudly.

Wilbur sighed. "Alright alright, hold on." He turned on his heel with Violet and got back in the car. Both pushed their super suit buttons and soon were Phantom and Invisigirl. It was obvious something was up and K9 needed their help—but the situation was so dire he couldn't change form to explain. When time was of the essence, he was known to stay in dog-form and grab a police officer or another super by the sleeve and drag them off to the scene.

"What about the car?" Violet asked.

Wilbur shrugged, "Guess we leave it. I'll turn on the emergency lights so people go around it. Let's go."

When the two supers got out of the car, K9 was still waiting for them in the snow beyond the ditch. He barked again loudly as if to say "Hurry up".

"Relax, we're coming!" Phantom sighed. They caught up to K9 and they followed him farther into the snow. Beyond the ditch was a small abandoned shack that had been empty for years and due to its location being in the outskirts of TodayLand, it was never demolished. Thick woods were beyond the small house and K9 led them straight to it.

"K9, where are we going?" Invisigirl asked, trying to keep up with the other two supers in the deep snow. Snow was beginning to fall heavily now and it was a little hard to see. Phantom kept a close eye on her though, being able to see in the dark with his Night Vision.

K9 didn't respond, but only bounded forward another ten or fifteen feet before again turning around to make sure his companions were coming.

After trekking into the woods nearly a hundred feet, Phantom stopped and looked back. The line of the woods was barely visible, even with his Night Vision. Invisigirl stopped too and promptly asked, "What?"

Wilbur sighed, "I just don't get why he won't tell us what's-" A whine and dog pulling at his glove interrupted him. He pulled his wrist away and K9 growled roughly.

"Don't you growl at me. Tell me what's going on." Phantom crossed his arms.

K9 stomped a paw and looked further into the woods. He then looked back up at the couple with a serious look. Phantom sighed but calmly asked, "What is it? What's back there?"

"HELP!" A child's voice suddenly broke the silence.

K9 began whining and hopping around, before turning heel and booking it into the darkening woods.

"K9 wait!" Invisigirl called as she and Phantom ran straight into the woods after him and toward the child's voice.

"Please help me!" she desperately yelled again.

Phantom ran through a huge tree and called, "Keep calling!"

"I'm here!"

K9 continued sprinting until he disappeared from view around a fallen tree. Invisigirl ran around the mass of tree roots from the fallen oak, and Phantom leapt over the trunk with ease. But what they saw beyond it stopped them dead in their tracks.

A tiny small clearing surrounded by more oaks and other trees was in front of them. A single fire was glowing with small stones circling it, but three things made their skin go as cold as the winter air. First was the lack of their super friend, K9. He was nowhere to be seen and his tracks randomly stopped at the edge of the fire. Second was the tall man standing in front of the fire, dressed in all black with a thick black cape draped behind him. They couldn't see his face because his back was turned toward them, but K9's tracks ended right at the man's feet.

Last, but certainly not least, was the poor eight year old blonde who was tied to a tree on the other side of the clearing, her face stained with tears. She appeared to be unhurt but clearly terrified.

"Maddie Williams…" Phantom whispered, anger burning in his chest. Madison Holmes had actually been kidnapped a week prior, and supers and police forces alike across the state had been searching for her relentlessly. Whoever this psycho was had been keeping her here in the freezing cold.

The caped man finally raised his head and looked across the clearing at the little girl. "Don't worry," he said to her soothingly. "They have come to rescue you."

Phantom and Invisigirl cringed at the man's tone of voice—clearly mocking the child, but so subtle: subtle enough to get even under _their_ skin.

Phantom gave a short nod to Invisigirl, who instantly went invisible. They'd have to play this really smart to find K9 and get Maddie out of here.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man spoke to her as she finished disappearing. "With all this snow, I'm afraid you won't be able to hide as easily." Invisigirl knew this already, but the fact that he knew one of her weakness, albeit minor, ticked her off. She stayed where she was standing for the moment, but didn't return to visibility.

"Who are you?" Phantom asked forcefully.

The man turned and showed his masked face—to Invisigirl it didn't make too much of a difference because the only light was behind the man, but Phantom observed his every detail. Dressed in all black with a black cape, mask, and hat, the man closely resembled Zorro in those old films his parents and grandparents watched when they were young. But this guy didn't seem to be the hero type.

"I'm Ganger." The man smirked.

_Ganger. Ganger._ Phantom wracked his brain. The name sounded slightly familiar… most likely a villain from someplace or other.

Phantom gestured to Maddie, still struggling to be free, "What did you think you would gain by kidnapping an innocent little girl?"

Ganger scoffed, "Well I got you two alone, didn't I?"

The moment paused and the two supers had to think. Phantom really started wishing K9 would come back… wherever he went. Or was sent…

Ganger continued, "Secluded area, only one around is a little girl who more than likely won't be believed when asked about what she has seen, no one around for close to a mile if anyone happens to drive by." The man smiled comically, "Perfect time and place for an attack, don't you think?"

"You're outnumbered." Phantom countered.

"Am I?" Ganger shot back.

Phantom was confused: if more villains were coming, he'd certainly feel their presences by now. So what was he talking about?

"Where's K9?" He decided to ask instead.

Ganger laughed out loud. "You really think your friend was here? You two are seriously easier to fool than I thought."

Phantom and Invisigirl, who had slowly advanced one step at a time in a wide circle toward Maddie, paused in surprise and shock. _If that wasn't K9,_ Phantom thought, slowly catching on. _Then…_

Ganger's face broke into a smile. "Ah see? You're getting it."

Ganger. Phantom sighed, trying to keep calm. He was a doppelganger: the ultimate shape-shifter—a super who can shape shift into any person, any creature, any item, even something as random as a fire hydrant. And with a doppelganger comes the ability to adapt to each super's senses, powers, and personalities.

Invisigirl swallowed. _This is not good._

"So, I have one word for you, Phantom." Ganger smiled, crossing his arms. Phantom's ears began ringing suddenly and a chill went down his spine as he waited for the next word. "Run."

Run? Running from a fight wasn't exactly on a super's repertoire… But when Ganger began shape shifting into who knew who or what, Phantom began to back away. He suddenly had an idea.

"Invisigirl, get the girl and get her out of here!"

Before she could say a word, Phantom sprinted in the opposite direction, phased through the tree trunk and out of sight. She watched in horror as Ganger shape-shifted until he was standing tall in an orange and black suit with graying hair.

She covered her mouth to keep the name from escaping her lips. _Magnum_. _He shifted into Magnum._

Ganger-turned-Magnum turned and smirked right at her (shocking her because she was still invisible) and he lifted into the air to chase Phantom in the darkened forest.

As soon as he disappeared, she turned and sprinted over to the little girl who was crying in fear. "Shh it's alright," Invisigirl showed herself and tried to calm the child. "I'm going to take you home, I promise."

After removing the ropes bonding the girl to the tree, she had a thought. _Idiot, why didn't we think of this before?_ She quickly pulled out her homing device and pushed the Aid button. This would alert the rest of the team to tell them they were in trouble, and would alert the police of their location to send help also

She then noticed another Aid button had been pressed—Phantom's. She had to smile a little; always thinking on his toes. This is why she loved him.

Picking Maddie up in her arms, she turned and ran back toward the road. Phantom had thankfully thought to run in the opposite direction—he first ran back towards it when he left, but the homing device's tracking signal showed he veered a left.

_Please come quickly!_ She thought hard, wishing that someone on the team was telepathic.

**Xxx**

Phantom sped through the woods as fast as he could, phasing through everything in his path. He tried to keep the sound of his breathing down, but when you've been running as hard as you can for nearly ten minutes, it becomes difficult to be quiet.

Another blast of White Lightning hit a trunk on his left and he yelped, diving through a few trees on his right. Why this moron was chasing him in the first place, but then had to shape shift into his deceased arch-nemesis on top of it, was beyond him.

He prepared a ball of Blue Fire in his hand. Placing his other hand over the ball, he muted the sound of the burning plasma; when he sensed "Magnum" closest, he leapt out from behind the tree and threw the orb at him.

The orb blasted the shape-shifter in the chest, making him fly back twenty feet and into a sturdy tree trunk. He fell and landed on the ground in a heap, and then was buried by the snow that followed. Phantom quickly prepared another huge ball of fire and aimed; Ganger-still-Magnum was slowly regaining his footing after having to unbury himself. His slow, tired movements showed he also didn't have the strength as most supers. He could've shifted into anyone with agility and endurance, but not only did he pick a powerful villain, he chose an old one.

The shape shifter finally stood and faced Phantom, noticeably panting.

"What do you want with me?" Phantom asked, holding his orb but ready to fire at a moment's notice. "What fight do I have with you?"

In Magnum's old but strong voice, and even in the right grouchy attitude the villain had always displayed, Ganger replied, "Maybe I'm just doing my job."

"And what's that?" Phantom pressed. "Who's employing you?"

"Ahh…" Ganger sighed with a slight chuckle. "Spoilers."

Phantom tightened his fingers around the flaming blue orb. "I will use this." He saw the fear flicker in the doppelganger's eyes as he glanced down at the flaming orb. "And you know I will because this is exactly how Magnum died. Don't dare think I'm bluffing either because I _will _do it."

Ganger sighed heavily and suddenly began changing form. As he did, his voice altered as he spoke, "The time will come for you to know who I work for and why. This was more of just a warning to watch your back and be careful who you trust." Phantom stared in confusion as Ganger turned out to be…Danny Worth. Also known as Jumper… he was currently sitting in jail, serving his time for his work with Magnum.

Ganger-as-Jumper continued, "You can't even trust the ones you trust most. So be careful. Now, lights out."

Then, with an agility and speed that he didn't see coming, Ganger transported to Phantom's right side and punched him right in the side of the head. The blow knocked Phantom out cold before he could do anything. He slumped to the ground unconscious but as he did, Ganger hadn't anticipated the blue orb that fell with him.

When it smashed into the snow, the orb blew sky high, knocking the shape shifter off his feet and away from Phantom. He hit the ground hard on his back, which knocked the air out of him. Nearly a minute later, he sat up and inhaled deeply. Phantom still lay where he left him, unconscious.

"Whew… That was rough…" He mused to himself as he stood.

A female voice suddenly called through the woods, "Phantom!"

Ganger smirked, glad he hadn't changed form yet. What an easy escape. "Guess that's my cue." And with that, he disappeared just as supers began filling the woods.

**Xxx**

Wilbur slurped his hot coffee in the lobby of his offices in Robinson Industries the next day, gingerly rubbing his right eyebrow. That blow from Ganger thankfully didn't bruise, yet, but gave him a nice cut on his eyebrow. He had three stitches with a small white bandage over-top, and sadly none of his employees knew yet; they'd surely be asking.

As if on cue, two workers walked in presently.

"Hey boss," one man greeted him, the other waving.

Wilbur turned and smiled, "Hey Jeff, Marty."

"Whoa!" Jeff exclaimed, stepping forward to get a closer look at his boss' face. "What happened to you?"

Wilbur winced, _Time to lie._ He always hated lying; well, once he grew mature enough to stop anyway. "Wasn't paying attention to where I was going. Ran into a door." He replied with a sheepish expression.

"Yikes." Marty smirked. "Hit it that hard, huh?"

"Guess so." Wilbur shrugged. Their attention was diverted when the blonde female news anchor on the television screen switched over to a Breaking News story covering the return of Maddie Williams. The anchor rejoiced that the child had been found a few miles outside TodayLand by Invisigirl, and happily announced that she was back home, safe and sound, with her family. However, the criminal, or criminals, responsible for her disappearance were still on the loose. A number was given to call for help if any new information popped up anywhere.

Jeff gave a low whistle. "Thank goodness they found her. Poor kid, out in the cold for nearly a week."

Wilbur and Marty nodded in agreement. Wilbur hid his true feelings, but he was really worried about the whole thing. It seemed that Ganger kidnapped Maddie and used her to divert him, and other supers, into a lair, basically. But was that really the whole story? He resisted the urge to scoff—probably not.

He again had to hide his thoughts and feelings when Invisigirl was shown on camera across from the anchor, both women sitting in identical red love seats. Violet had told him that she had been asked to be on the news to speak on her saving Maddie.

"Invisigirl, thank you so much for joining us," The anchor gushed. "It really is an honor to have such a popular and amazing super here with us."

_Layer on the icing why don't you?_ Wilbur thought sarcastically.

Invisigirl smiled and nodded, lightly waving a shimmery purple, gloved hand, "It's great to be here."

"Tell me, how did you find Maddie Williams in the forest? What drew you to that conclusion that she could be there?"

Invisigirl smiled, "Well the police and super forces have been looking for her everywhere and hadn't been successful yet. I thought I'd take a look around outside the city, but I honestly had no idea if I'd find her or not. I guess I was just lucky to be the one who found her."

"Such devotion to the people of Todayland to even go out of the city! We really are in-debted to you-" the anchor continued.

_If only they knew the whole story, or their news coverage would be exploding right now._ Wilbur chuckled to himself.

The women kept talking, the anchor asking various dumb questions and Invisigirl answering with fluffy answers about luck. Wilbur became distracted when Marty broke the silence, "Ya know, for a super she isn't bad to look at."

Wilbur gritted his teeth, but kept a straight face and chugged the rest of his coffee. _It's gonna be double-duty in the brick yards if you don't quit checking out my wif-_

"Couldn't agree more, pal. A lot of the female supers are pretty attractive, but I'd say she comes pretty close to the top." Jeff nodded.

Wilbur couldn't take it anymore. Walking away towards his desk, he said, "Alright, I believe you both have business presentations to be preparing for my father?" He faced them with an eye-brow raised.

Both men's faces tightened in fear. "Yeah…" Marty nodded, Jeff heading to his desk immediately. "Should probably finish getting ready for that."

As both men scurried to their respective areas in the office, Wilbur muttered to himself in irritation, "Yeah probably." Glancing at the white coffee cup in his hand with the red Robinson Industries logo on it, he frowned. Moving a few fingers away from their current position, he saw that in his frustration at the men a few moments ago, he had actually started burning the cup. Thankfully he had had more control than that—would've scared his employees to death when the cup suddenly shattered in his hand.

He walked around his desk and sat down, throwing the empty cup inside a desk drawer and closing it firmly. _Will have to take care of that later._

Wilbur logged into his laptop and began looking through his work planner to see what his father needed him to do today. Basically his job was to do whatever Cornelius didn't have time for—working on more inventions, critiquing employees on their work, replacing old employees, hiring new employees, organizing, etc. etc. The work never ended really. Every morning Cornelius would send his son and Violet, obviously Wilbur's secretary/assistant, a list of things to be done via email.

Wilbur scanned the list and tried to organize in his mind what would be the most logical task to accomplish first, but again, his mind began to wander back to the previous day.

He had only been unconscious in the snow for a few minutes. When he came to Multiplicity, Cynder and Titan were looming over him. They helped him up, asked what happened and where Invisigirl was—he didn't know, but they soon found her on the highway with police officers and Maddie Williams safe and on her way to the hospital.

Once finished giving the police an altered, but mostly accurate report (some details they decided to keep confidential), the team of supers decided to rendezvous at their hideout to talk about the whole evening's events.

Violet and Wilbur explained everything from top to bottom, and even had Kevin and Shannon on Skype as they explained, so they would also be informed (being tired from their trip home, they were excused from the meeting in present form). The team was very alarmed during the discussion—the fact that they had to deal with a Doppelganger was very alarming. But so many questions came to light the more they talked, so eventually everyone decided to call it a night and keep their eyes open for more clues.

So here he was, at work the next morning, unable to concentrate. So many questions flowed through his mind about Ganger, his intentions, why was Maddie connected, if there was a reason besides using her as a diversion to get the supers out, why did he want to attack Phantom and Invisigirl, specifically Phantom, who was he working for…so many questions.

He must've looked completely stressed out because when Cornelius walked in and stopped in mid-stride in the center of the room, Wilbur looked up in surprise.

"Oh. Hey."

"Hey…" Cornelius frowned, slowly stepping forward. "You alright?"

Wilbur sighed heavily, stacking up a few papers and filing them away. "Yeah. Just kinda stressed." He closed the cabinet drawer and gently rubbed his stitches, a habit that he was slowly but surely growing accustomed to.

Cornelius' frown didn't lessen. When Violet and Wilbur got home the night before, very late, the latter with stitches and both looking a bit banged up, he and Franny insisted they tell what had happened. The couple seemed more psychologically injured—they both looked pretty freaked out from the incident, and having to explain it for the third time since it had happened a few hours before tired them out. Franny quickly rushed them off to bed without hearing a single complaint from the adult, married couple.

Cornelius sat at the edge of his son's desk and flicked him in the side of the head with his pencil. "Ow," Wilbur frowned at his dad and rubbed the spot under his dark hair. "What was that for?"

"Relax," his father smiled. "You'll figure it out."

"I know, but it's not that, dad." Wilbur looked passed his father before continuing. The few employees in the office couldn't possibly hear them, but he still spoke in a low voice. "I just…I have that weird feeling that something is up. Like I'm in a big game of chess: my opponent's individual moves aren't huge at first, but they're leading up to this massive attack that's going to… to end the game." Wilbur frowned at his hands resting on his desk, then looked back up at his dad. "Know what I mean?"

Cornelius sighed through his nose and slowly nodded, "Yes, but how do you know it's something as big as last time?"

"Because I can _feel_ it." Wilbur pressed intently. "I don't know how or when or why, but something's going to happen. I just _know_."

Cornelius pursed his lips and slowly stood, "Well you better be extra careful, then."

Wilbur nodded in agreement with a deep frown. Cornelius smiled, and wacked his son's shoulder before walking away, "You'll be fine."

Walking past the offices toward the door, Cornelius called, "Marty, Jeff; your presentation is on in two hours!"

Wilbur chuckled when he saw Marty and Jeff, each in his own individual cells, cower in fear. Every employee, even himself, had to go through a project presentation if they wanted to be on a building or research team. This was their big break—they had a right to be nervous. Heck, it was his dad and even he was nervous through his presentation!

Sadly though, the nervousness he felt then was merely petty. It was nothing compared to the nervousness he honestly felt growing inside him.

**Well I hope this is suspenseful enough for a first chapter! I got it pretty action-packed for a first chapter, I thought, so I hope it satisfied :) Please leave me some reviews, okay? I get off school in 20 days (eep!) so I hopefully can get some writing done through the summer :) Thanks guys!**

**~EmK/EmmerzK**


	2. A Knife in the Dark

**Wow, so it's finally summertime and that means more updates! :D Hooray! This isn't as long as I'd hoped, but it's super cute and I know you'll love it. Don't forget to review!**

**Chapter 2: A Knife in the Dark**

"Wow, you making enough?"

Violet and Franny gave playful frowns to Wilbur as he walked through the kitchen. The two ladies along with Carl, the family's affectionate robot helper, were baking chocolate chip cookies the old-fashioned way. Long ago Cornelius, with the help of a certain raven-haired ten-year-old, invented a machine that could make and bake bushels of cookies in less than three minutes. However, it was always fun to make cookies the old-fashioned way—bowls, spoons, measuring cups and fun with family. What could be better?

Violet slapped Wilbur's hand as he dunked in a finger and ran away with a big dollop of cookie dough. "Not if you keep eating it all!"

"I swear, it's like he's still four." Franny raised an eyebrow at her son plunging his finger into his mouth.

Cornelius walked in and stopped in mid-stride with wide eyes. "Cookies?" he gasped. "You're making _cookies_?"

Carl spun around from the oven with a freshly hot pan and wearing a chef's hat on his head. "Yes sir! Would you like one-"

"Ah!" Franny dropped her spoon and advanced on her husband about to steal the whole pan containing nearly thirty. "All of you men beat it before I take my spoon to your behinds-"

"Aw come on, mom," Wilbur crossed his arms and stood taller. "Let the hard-working man have a cookie."

"Yeah, let the hard-working man have a cookie!" Cornelius mimicked his son, clearly enjoying the recognition.

Franny ignored her husband but equally crossed her arms and smirked, "And I suppose you don't want one?"

"Of course not, that'd be ridiculous. Why on earth would _I_ want a _cookie_?" Wilbur remarked sarcastically, "That's like asking me if I want to get paid for the next year without working-"

Violet walked up and pressed a finger to his lips to shut him up. "You done?" Wilbur raised an eyebrow and her finger suddenly fell through his face with his phasing power. She pulled her hand away and huffed, "I hate it when you do that."

She walked back to the counter as he replied, "Cuz you can't win. I'm invincible."

"And I'm invisible. What now, son?" Violet shot back as she continued spooning cookie dough on a tray.

Cornelius and Franny laughed out loud at her remark and his expression. "Son?" he asked incredulously. "Why would you say that? That's offensive." After receiving a short look from both parents, he quickly added, "Unless you're a parent."

Violet giggled, "Oh relax. You're overreacting."

"Overreacting is a great way to put it. Wouldn't you agree Cornelius?" Franny looked to her spiky-haired blonde husband.

Cornelius walked out of the room with a mouthful of chocolatey goodness he stole, and replied, "That is an excellent question."

Wilbur guffawed and followed his dad out. "What! You can't recycle my catchphrase! I resent that, sir!" He swiftly reappeared for a few seconds and snagged a few cookies off a plate.

"Wilbur!" Both women and Carl reprimanded, his mother trying to slap his wrist. He just phased through the action and ran back out.

"Oh I hate it when he uses his powers to his advantage." Franny grumbled.

Violet knew in what context she meant it, but quietly replied, "But can you imagine where we'd be if he didn't?"

Franny stopped stirring and looked at her with a kind smile. "No. I can't. I hate it, but I didn't say I wasn't thankful."

Violet smiled and scooped out some more cookie dough, "Amen to that."

Franny leaned forward to see out the door—both men were still talking as they walked back towards the laboratory. She stood straight again and quietly asked, "So how's he doing?"

Violet glanced up at her from her measuring flour. "Umm…" She paused, cocking her head around. "He's alright. I mean it has only been two weeks since it happened and he was super jumpy for a while… but I think he's finally starting to wind down a bit. Not much because he's a paranoid person sometimes, but little by little."

Franny nodded, "Alright. Being his mother I can read him fairly well, but when it comes to all your super stuff I'm clueless."

Violet giggled, "It's alright. That's just part of the deal—regular people aren't supposed to be able to tell what's going on behind the scenes."

"Yes, it makes sense." Franny smiled. Changing the subject she asked, "Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?"

"I don't, but I think Wil is going downtown in a few hours."

"Alright."

"Why?"

"Oh just wondering." Franny smiled to herself.

Violet raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "What are you planning?"

"Planning? Why would I be planning?" Franny asked innocently.

Wilbur suddenly walked in and interrupted the conversation with a smile, "Mom, you're always planning something."

"Seems you may have gotten your mischief from me then," Franny fired back. Wilbur stuck his tongue out as he pulled on his black leather jacket.

"Where are you going?" Violet asked, walking around the counter.

She stood in front of him as he zipped up his coat and replied, "I have to run into the office for a bit and then I'm going to see Danny."

Franny remarked from her stirring cookie dough, "I don't know how you can possibly go spend time with that man-"

"I made a promise, mom." Wilbur reminded her. "If he helped us out, then I'd give him some company. Just trying to mend a tear."

"I know, I just think back to all those times of school together that I got called into the office for bloody noses or fractured ankles or whatnot."

Wilbur lightly shook his head, "Keep moving forward."

Franny opened her mouth but slowly shut it. "Alright alright." Wilbur smirked and turned his attention to his wife still standing before him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck loosely and quietly asked, "What time you coming back?"

Wilbur leaned his forehead against hers and gave her a small smirk, "Why?"

She pouted, "Cuz I don't like it when you leave me here."

"Wanna come?" Wilbur grinned. "You don't have to stay-"

"No no, I'm baking you cookies remember?" Violet smiled.

"Just don't eat 'em all-"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not implying anyt-"

"Ohhh like you aren't-"

"I'm not!"

"Right," Violet shook her head at him slowly with a knowing smile.

"If I was implying anything it's that you're a great baker. Let's not be-" Violet cut him off by pressing her lips to his in a warm kiss. Lightly exhaling a small laugh, Wilbur cupped her face in his hands and kissed her back.

Cornelius then decided to walk into the kitchen and, again, stopped in mid-stride. He made a face at the couple and looked to Franny in disgust. "Ewww…"

Without moving away from his current position, Wilbur flicked two fingers towards his dad and shot a small inch-sized blue orb at his father. It bounced off the floor and pounded towards Cornelius; he yelped and jumped out of the way toward Franny in time before orb the hit him. Wilbur snapped his fingers a second later and the orb dissipated in a poof of sulfuric smoke.

Cornelius and Franny watched the smoke fly through the air for a moment before Cornelius glanced at the couple again. "Okay seriously?"

Finally Wilbur walked away from Violet, wiping his lip. "Yeah really, I'm never gonna get out of here-"

"Okay, now I'm offended." Violet crossed her arms, trying, but failing, to hide her smile.

Wilbur gave her a flirtatious smirk from down the hall. "Gimme four hours, I'll be back."

"Ohhhh boy." Cornelius murmured, trying to bury his face in a newspaper. Franny could only shake her head as her shoulders were at this point heaving from laughter at her husband's reactions.

Violet shook her head at Wilbur playfully, "Go to work, you."

Wilbur turned and walked further down the hallway, "Been trying babe but someone distracted me-"

"Shoo with your flirtatious self!" Violet yelled after him and returned to Franny, Cornelius and the long-forgotten cookies. She smiled and laughed to herself about her crazy husband until she noticed Cornelius and Franny still in the room, both rather avoiding eye contact.

Rolling her eyes lightly, she said, "It could be worse you know-"

"Aaaaand I'm off to the lab." Cornelius suddenly stood, grabbed a few more cookies and quickly evacuated the area before anymore potentially awkward things could happen.

**Xxx**

Wilbur walked into the small room that echoed his every footstep and sound he made—keys rattling in his pockets, shoes pressing into the floor, he could even hear his own breathing. He sat down at the desk in the center of the room and waited.

The walls were the usual blank gray color and glass windows all around—speakers and cameras posted on the ceilings to guarantee any and all conversation was being recorded. Shiny black table with matching chairs were the only forms of furniture. Two doors—the one he came through, and another leading to the inmates' quarters, or whatever was back there. The glass windows were the kind where you couldn't see through them but FBI agents were guaranteed to be standing on the other side, keeping an eye on everything. The glass, as well as the entire room, was also about four inches thick and super proof—absolutely nothing could pass through these walls. The materials that went into creating rooms like these for villain convicts were the same that Cornelius invented for federal agencies and police to use in their jails.

About a minute after he sat down, the door across from him opened; Danny Worth, also known as Jumper, walked in, being escorted by two armed police officers. Danny was wearing the typical bright orange inmate outfit, his hands in specialized-against-powers-handcuffs before him, and his usually trimmed face had a little rough stubble. Danny nodded at the two officers as he sat down and they stood back by the door. Danny glanced back although he knew they were still there.

Wilbur spoke for him, "Gentleman you know we don't have to keep doing this-"

"Sir, you can't be alone with him. It's regulation."

"Sir, I guarantee you no harm will come to me." Wilbur stated firmly. "If there's any problem with that then send your lead agent in here to have a talk. You guys are listening in anyway. Trust me."

The officer spoke again, a little agitated, "Sir, you are Wilbur Robinson. You're important to the well-being of this city." Wilbur hung his head with an eye roll; Danny remained silent. "We're liable to anything that happens-"

"Stop." Wilbur's head snapped up, looking more than annoyed. "This city is just fine without Wilbur Robinson, in fact it's better. Go out there and have them inform you a bit on the gravity of this situation so you're not in the dark every time I come in here."

The officers shared a look in confusion. "Informed?"

Before Wilbur could comment again, a short ring came from a speaker above. A man, assumingly an FBI agent in charge, ordered a simple, "Out." The officers immediately turned and walked out of the room.

Once the door closed, Wilbur rolled his eyes and relaxed. "How many times have we gone through that?"

Danny smirked and rested his handcuffed hands on the table, "Too many to count."

"I'll say." Wilbur shook his head. "Anyway, how are you?"

Danny shrugged, "Not good, not bad. More good than bad, but not great. Tis life in jail."

Wilbur breathed a laugh, "I believe it. Sorry I couldn't come last week. I had some…stuff come up."

"Like what?"

Wilbur paused. This building was an FBI consulate that held any captured villains who were awaiting trial, and any supers had the option to come under secret identity or in super suit to question, or in this case make weekly visits, to the captured villains, or in this very rare case, friend.

All the FBI out in the hall knew all about his identity of being Phantom and they knew about the whole ordeal two weeks ago. And it was inevitable that they hear everything he asked Danny now, but he really wished there was some way they wouldn't get eavesdropped on. _Oh well…_

"Do you know anything about a villain named Ganger?"

Danny visibly tensed a tad but shook his head. "Never met the guy but I've heard enough to know I'd never want a run-in with him. Why?"

"Unfortunately I had one two weeks ago. Threats, impersonated a teammate, kidnapped a little girl to lure me out there." He shook his head. "All last week I tried to track down as much info on him as possible but there doesn't seem to be much available."

"He tries to stay out of the spotlight. He steals people's identities and uses them to his advantage to keep away from the authorities." Danny mused. "Not exactly easy to catch when the person you're looking for could turn out to be anyone from your best friend to the president."

Wilbur nodded uneasily. After a moment of silence he added, "He just gives me the creeps, ya know?" Looking back up at Danny he continued, "Like… I don't feel safe anymore, does that make sense? Like I have to know where my team is, I have to know where my family or Violet is all the time. It's not even about my safety, I'm just… paranoid I guess."

Danny leaned forward and lightly shook his head, "That's exactly what he wants Wil. Trust me, I'm here because I was a villain, I know how they think. If they have an advantage against you and they're able to terrify you, they're going to do it. And they're going to do it from every point and angle. Magnum did it, it's not going to stop there."

Wilbur nodded in agreement. With a light shrug he asked, "What do I do?"

Danny shook his head, "I don't know… you just have to find his weakness."

"But how do I do that when I don't know who or where he is?"

"I don't know." Danny shrugged and slouched back in his chair with a clunk. "But I do know this: he's not working alone."

Wilbur's eyebrows shot down and he leaned forward. "How do you know?"

"It's another one of his traits—he never works alone. He may be the ultimate doppelganger but what's that really going to get him? If anything he could make himself famous and rich, but what would he really gain?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "Just knowing various connections over the years, whom I'm not in contact with anymore by the way," He added a little louder for the sake of their listeners, "I've been told he gets jobs from people, they pay him, and he moves on to the next employer. Someone else hired him to come after you. The question is though, who?"

"And why?" Wilbur mused, deep in thought. The men thought in silence for a moment, but both were at the end of ideas at that point. Neither had enough information to come any other conclusions.

"Keep an eye on your family though." Danny suddenly said.

"I was planning on it-"

"No seriously, like keep tabs on where they go, what they're doing, who they're going with. If something doesn't match, then something's wrong." Danny said. "The last thing we need is for you to get killed because he got too close, and you were oblivious."

Wilbur nodded in agreement at the horrible thought and gulped. _A knife in the dark…_ Not exactly the best way to die.

**I hope this was an interesting chapter. I thought it was! :) Please leave me a review and tell me what you think. Chapter 3 coming soon and getting more intense as we go! Hang on, bumpy rides are on their way ;)**

**~EmK/EmmerzK**


	3. The Perks of Marriage

**Hello faithful Willet lovers! I'm really sorry that it has been so long since I last updated but it's been a busy summer. I had a super epic chapter prepared for chapter 3 but then I thought… you know… if I put up this epic action chapter now in only chapter 3, this story will be done by chapter 10. And that would be ridiculous! Folly! Blasphemy!**

**So I decided to come up with a few filler chapters (don't worry, they're working towards the plot as you'll discover later on). This one in particular is super cute and I can't wait to see your reactions!**

**Enough gab from me. Get to it! ;)**

**Chapter 3: The Perks of Marriage**

The hours ticked by and sleep eluded Wilbur. Glancing at the clock for a hundredth time, it said 3:17 AM. Didn't it say that ten minutes ago?

Thoughts of his conversation with Danny the afternoon before swirled in his mind. When he'd arrived home he called Kevin and talked over the new information. They still weren't anywhere near solving the problem with Ganger, but he had hoped that talking it over would cause him to relax. It didn't.

He quietly sighed so he didn't wake Violet, although she didn't seem to be sleeping very peacefully either. She had gone to bed not long after dinner saying she didn't feel well. He worked on a project in the lab with Cornelius for a few hours, which did offer some distraction, but when Cornelius also went to bed along with everyone else, he was only left with his thoughts. He didn't go to bed until close to midnight and Violet seemed to toss and turn through each hour.

As if on cue she rolled over, her forehead brushing his shoulder. Frowning, he wrapped his arm around her, hoping it would help her sleep better. He brushed his fingers up and down her arm as he stared at the ceiling. Without further notice Violet sat up, throwing the blankets off.

"You okay?" he gently asked as he followed suit. She only groaned in response and quickly walked to their bathroom.

"Uh-oh…" he murmured.

His suspicions were confirmed when he heard her throwing up a few seconds later. He frowned sadly, standing up and joining her. He held her hair behind her neck and rubbed her back until she was finished. He filled a cup at the sink and gave it to her to rinse her mouth, which she gratefully did.

Breathing deeply she leaned against his shoulder. He leaned his head on top of hers and held her there. He felt her forehead, "You're really hot."

"I know," she whispered. "I think I just got overheated in there."

He nodded and they stayed there for a few minutes. When she felt she could stand up without her stomach churning, they stood and returned to bed. He kissed her forehead as she leaned against him. She whispered, "I'm not going to work tomorrow."

He nodded, "Yeah, take the day off."

That being said, they both soon fell asleep.

**Xxx**

She was sleeping peacefully when he got up at seven thirty to get ready for work. He felt like a zombie for the next half hour. "_Thank goodness I didn't go save lives yesterday or I'd really be bushed,_"he mused to himself.

When he finished putting his shoes on, he bent over and kissed Violet's still-warm forehead. He smiled when she curled up in the blankets tighter and sighed sleepily, but he turned and left the room.

"Hey there, little buddy," Carl greeted when he walked into the kitchen. Franny and Cornelius both greeted him as well from behind their cups of coffee.

"Hey," he mumbled while pouring his own cup.

"You alright?" Franny asked. "You look exhausted."

"Didn't sleep until almost four," he replied, pouring sugar and creamer into his cup. "Violet's sick."

"Oh dear," Cornelius frowned. "I take it she's not coming to work then?" Wilbur shook his head as he sipped his coffee and recoiled with his tongue sticking out. "Careful super boy, it's hot."

Wilbur made a face. "Noooo, really?" Franny giggled.

Carl patted Wilbur on the back, "I'll keep an eye on her throughout the day. I'll make some soup too."

"Thanks Carl," Wilbur smiled.

"What do you think she has?" Cornelius asked.

"I'm guessing the flu," Wilbur replied. "She has a fever too." Cornelius nodded solemnly.

"The poor dear," Franny sighed. "I'll help Carl with her. You stay focused on work, alright?"

Wilbur shrugged, following Cornelius to the door, "I don't know if I can if my beloved is sick."

Franny and Carl laughed while Cornelius offered a smile. "Nevertheless, I need you focused today. We have that press meeting remember."

"Oh joy," Wilbur ran a hand down his face, exiting the room.

Franny and Carl waved. "Bye!" "Have fun!"

**Xxx**

Wilbur sat through his father's press meeting in complete boredom. He thankfully wasn't needed to talk (he tried to avoid cameras and reporters as much as possible), but his presence was still required. Cornelius and a few other scientists answered questions about the coming year's inventions and which inventions would the company stop creating this year, if there were any, amongst other questions. Occasionally there wouldn't be much demand for a particular invention, so the company would take if off the manufacturing list.

Wilbur was forced to pay attention as well, which kind of annoyed him. Sometimes there would be one question for him and it was _extremely_ awkward (and mostly embarrassing for his father) if he didn't hear the question. That had only happened once… but it was his first press meeting, how could they really blame him? Most people weren't all that surprised though and only laughed. However, he'd been left wanting to crawl under a rock and die.

So he tried to listen to everything going on—all the lengthy questions, all the lengthy answers, the entire _length_ of the meeting… He sighed quietly with a slight shake of his head. _Press meetings should be outlawed._

Cornelius finished answering one question as another scientist pointed at his watch. Cornelius glanced at his and said, "Alright, it seems we only have time for one more question." The reporters all shot their hands up in the air, trying to get his attention. Cornelius settled on a young man with his hand holding a pen in the air, but he was patiently looking at him. "Yes?"

"Thank you sir," he smiled and glanced at his notebook. "My question is actually for Wilbur." Wilbur's eyebrows shot up when he turned to him. "When your father retires or passes on, will you take on Robinson Industries as CEO?"

The question stunned Wilbur and his face portrayed it. He knew that one day he probably would, but he never dreamed the question would be asked by a kid reporter of his own age. On live TV. He swallowed, "I plan to carry on his legacy to the best of my ability."

Many people smiled at his response, but the young man wasn't satisfied, "Why did you hesitate to respond?"

"It's a big question. There's a lot of responsibility involved there."

"Do you think you can live up to his legacy? Do you think you'll be able to handle that much responsibility?"

The back of Wilbur's neck grew hot when the questions kept coming. His response, "I think-" He paused with a tight smile, "That you are definitely in the right profession." Some people chuckled, Cornelius included. Wilbur turned, "And we're also out of time."

"Yes," Cornelius regained their attention. "Thank you for your time and support. Remember, Keep Moving Forward and drop by our website if you have any pressing questions. Thank you."

Reporters jumped up, waving their arms and notebooks like wind socks on a stormy day and cameras from the paparazzi flashed like lightning as the scientists, the two Robinsons in the center of the group, made their way inside. Police officers blocked the crowd from advancing through the front doors of Robinson Industries.

When they were all standing in the lobby and the group of thirty began to disperse, Cornelius turned to Wilbur, "Good response."

"Heh, which one?" Wilbur asked nervously.

Cornelius smiled proudly and smacked his arm, "The first one." Then he turned toward the elevators to head back to the lab.

Wilbur smiled happily and turned toward another set of elevators that would take him to his office. He only had a twinge of doubt from the reporter's questioning: _Can I live up to dad's legacy?_

**Xxx**

Wilbur tossed his keys onto the counter and hung up his black leather jacket when he got home at seven o'clock. Walking into the living room he saw Violet sitting on the couch, curled up in a thick purple blanket with a hot mug of apple cider in her hands. He leaned into the doorway and watched her—she was watching the press conference from earlier, her eyes fixed on the television screen.

He looked up at it to see the reporter questioning him. Seeing his reaction was interesting to watch—stunned, yet determined. He smiled; Cornelius had a reason to be proud. He wasn't Wilbur Robinson for nothing after all.

But he shouldn't get too cocky.

Violet then turned to see him standing there. Her face brightened, "Hey!"

Wilbur smiled and sat beside her. Kissing her temple he asked, "How's my girl?"

"Much better. Carl's soup and your mom's love never cease to amaze me."

Wilbur looked shot down and drooped. "And what about _my_ love?"

"Awww," she made a poochie lip. "Is someone throwing a pity party?"

"And my soup isn't half bad either."

"Oh stop your whining and come here," She pulled him forward and kissed him. A small laugh stopped in his throat as he kissed her back, but he pulled away before some obscure family member happened to walk in. If it happened to be Tallulah, it wouldn't matter; she thought their kissing was "adorable"; Franny didn't seem too bothered by it either. Anyone else about gagged or lectured them to death about "better times and places to do that nonsense."

"You want to go to dinner still?" Violet asked.

Wilbur frowned, "I thought we called it off?"

"No, we called off my going to work."

"Well… I figured…" Wilbur paused. "Really? You've been sick all day-"

"No, I was sick until about noon when I finally got out of bed, then I snacked on soup and apple cider, and talked with anyone who came in." Violet explained. Wilbur raised an eyebrow and she sighed, "I'm feeling much better, I promise!"

He felt her forehead. "Well, your temperature did go down to normal."

"Mhm…"

"And I suppose we don't have any other plans-"

"Yippee!" Violet jumped up suddenly, her hand accidentally slapping his chin.

"Ow."

"Oh, sorry," She bent down and kissed him as an apology. He hummed with a content smile. "I'm going to go take a shower and get ready, okay?"

"Yup, I'll be here," Wilbur smiled as she dashed off. As she exited the room, Franny entered through another doorway.

"Hi Wilbur," she smiled. "Where'd Violet go?"

"She's going to take a shower and then we're going to go to dinner."

"What? Wilbur-"

"Hey, you can't change a woman's mind once she's made it up!"

"So she said, 'we are going to dinner whether you like it or not'?" Franny raised an eyebrow.

"Uh well," he scratched his neck. "It didn't go _exactly_ like that."

"Of course it didn't," Franny smiled knowingly. "I suppose she's been feeling better all afternoon anyway."

"And we really won't have another date night for a while. There's just too much going on." Wilbur added wistfully.

"Yes, go while you can." Franny nodded, folding Violet's purple blanket.

Wilbur played with a small blue flame on his fingertip as he said, "She wasn't sick all that long. Do you know what she had?"

Franny paused for a second in her folding but kept going. If it weren't for his sharp instincts he would have missed it, but he didn't say anything about it. "I'm sure it was just a twenty-four hour bug."

Wilbur focused his attention on his flame as if he didn't catch her hesitation, but he knew better. _Why did she hesitate?_

"Can you douse that flame? You're making it smell like sulfur in here."

"Sorry."

**Xxx**

Wilbur and Violet sat in a fine dining restaurant an hour later, both refreshed and looking through their menus. Violet's attention became distracted when she noticed the wine glass in front of her. She carefully picked it up and looked it over, much to Wilbur's amusement.

Even on their honeymoon she had looked at all the expensive things as if they'd break in her hand. Being from an average household, she didn't have the high-end quality things when she was growing up; where his family was concerned on the other hand, money was no object.

"Vi, you're doing it again," Wilbur smiled, looking back down at his menu.

"What?" she asked, setting the glass down _very_ carefully.

"You're checking out the glass."

"I am not _checking out_ the glass," she argued. "I'm observing it."

Wilbur laughed and shook his head, "Oh the perks of marriage." She giggled and also shook her head.

The waiter, who had a thick French accent and dark brown hair with a charming smile, then approached, "Does the lovely couple know what they would like this evening?" He threw a dazzling smile at Violet, making Wilbur scowl.

Violet, catching her husband's look, smiled and lifted her left hand to her cheek and leaned on her elbow to show her ring. "Yes, I think we're ready."

The Frenchman nodded understandingly, smile still present as he pulled out his pad of paper. Wilbur relaxed and smiled as she ordered. He then ordered and the waiter left to take the ticket to the kitchen. Wilbur smiled at her, "I love you."

"Oh I love you too," Violet smiled, "But you don't think I'd actually let him get away with that smile did you?"

"Huh, well most women would think it's rather dazzling."

"Not like yours."

Wilbur raised an eyebrow and had to laugh. "Why are we being so gushy today?"

Violet shrugged, "What's the point of a date otherwise?"

"Touché," He grinned, looking around the restaurant.

He scanned the other diners as most people usually do at least once while in a restaurant. His eyes stopped on one man in particular sitting at the bar—he had thick, graying blonde hair gelled back, striking blue eyes, and wore a black suit. What caught Wilbur's attention was the fact that the man was already watching them.

Wilbur held eye contact for close to ten seconds before the man mysteriously smiled, emptied his wine glass, slapped a few dollars on the counter for the bartender and stood to leave. Wilbur's eyes followed him as he walked through the restaurant, out the door and down the street.

Silence ensued as the man escaped his vision. _Who was he? And why was he watching us?_

"Wilbur, you're doing it again," Violet's sing-song, teasing voice interrupted his thoughts.

Wilbur faced her in surprise. She was faithfully studying the dessert menu. "What?"

She looked up at him with an amused smile, "You're being paranoid."

Wilbur slumped. "I'd say I have good reason."

"Maybe so, but this is date night," She smiled, which looked a tiny bit forced. "Enjoy it."

"I was before that guy was-"

"Ah, stop there." Violet looked back down at the dessert menu.

"But Vi-"

"Tiramisu or Chocolate Lava Brownie?"

Wilbur heavily sighed and hung his head. She wasn't kidding, yet this could be something serious! "I don't know-"

"Have you ever had either?"

"I'm not a huge fan of tiramisu personally-"

"Okay, we're getting the lava brownie then."

"Get whatever you want, Vi-"

"No, I'm not eating an entire plate of tiramisu because you don't like it, _after_ we are going to eat all this we're about to get. Nope! I'm feeling chocolate heaven anyway-"

And so she rambled on for another few minutes on whatever came to mind. He had to laugh a little; she got his mind, mostly, off the strange man. She also seemed kind of hyper all of a sudden.

This could prove an interesting meal.

**Xxx**

"Ugh… why?"

Wilbur continued driving silently.

"Why, Wilbur?"

"Why, what?"

"Why did you let me eat all that? I feel like a huge cow!"

"Oh please babe, you're as thin as a twig-"

"You're just saying that."

"No, you're lean and fit! So what if you ate too much _one day_ of the year aside from Thanksgiving, you're absolutely fine."

"I feel sick."

Wilbur looked over at her nervously. "Please don't puke in the car."

Violet made a face at him, "I'm not-"

"There are plastic bags in the back if you need one."

"Wilbur, that's so gross!"

"Better than the carpeting!"

"I'm not that kind of sick, I just ate too much!"

"Well then why'd you eat so much?"

The couple stared at each other for a few moments in silence, both realizing the circular pattern their little "fight" had taken. Soon they were both laughing at their ridiculousness. Once their laughing calmed down, Violet held her stomach again and began whining.

"Oh Violet, you're fine," Wilbur moaned with a tight smile.

Violet sighed and looked out her window, trying to keep from whining about her stomachache. She then remembered something. "I.. uh I made a doctor appointment."

Wilbur frowned and looked over at her, "Why?"

"Your mom's suggestion really," She looked out her window to avoid his worried gaze. "Last night wasn't the first time I've felt sick anyway. I've felt kind of sick all week."

Wilbur frowned in concern, "Why didn't you say anything?"

Violet smiled, "Do you tell me every time you feel sick to your stomach?"

"Heck no."

"Exactly," She back out her window, "Although once I actually got sick she said I need to go see if I have something more serious."

Wilbur nodded, satisfied. Violet bit her lip and glanced over at him, but he didn't notice. She only hoped the story would keep him content til after the appointment.

**Sicknesses and mysterious dude in a restaurant—things are picking up! I can't wait to get more chapters up to you guys because this story is going to be awesomely intense. Harnessing Potential has nothing on what's to come ;)**

**Anywho, please leave me a review and let me know anything you want me to put in or change. Constructive criticism is desired! Let me know what you think.**

**I'm off to write chapter 4. Thanks for all the support! :)**

**~EmmerzK**


	4. Hero Day

**I wrote this chapter in a matter of three hours I think. I be so proud of myself ;) I loved writing this chapter; it was pretty direct and I had outlined what I wanted to be in it beforehand. We get introduced to another new character today, who I am growing to love. Hope you like him too!**

**The ending was kinda cute I thought; hope you like that too!**

**And just a little FYI, the more I think about this story, the more I keep adding more and more to it! I originally hoped I'd make this story around 30 chappies (definitely not as long as my first story), but the more I'm thinking about it, the longer it seems to be getting! We shall see when the tide comes in, but I must say the waves are growing.**

**Enough of my rambling, I'll letcha read now ;) Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Hero Day**

People swarmed the streets, waving papers and pens, cameras, and all forms of memorabilia to be signed. Cops posted themselves at each curb to control the masses—Chief McGinnis could be seen running to and fro, barking orders into his walkie-talkie every now and then. Phantom had to smile every time he saw the man, who had to be stressed out beyond belief.

Not that he blamed him. Hero day wasn't a day to be trifled with!

There were many national holidays—of course the traditional, such as Christmas or Easter Sunday, but many favorites had been created over the years. One such favorite was Hero Day.

Practicing supers from all over the country gathered in Todayland for a full twenty-four hours to give fans the opportunity to meet them personally, get their autographs, pictures, etc. Supers were also given federal permission to show off their powers, with obvious discretion.

Some of the supers didn't like the holiday—they thought it was too risky; too many people in one place at one time. Phantom actually didn't mind it; meeting people to get his name out there was in his personality. He just had to be careful not to act too much like Wilbur Robinson. People get around, and Robinson wasn't just a random name.

"Here ya go," he smiled, handing a man his pen and paper back.

"Thank you so much, have a great day. And stay safe!" The man said to him before he was pushed out of the way by a new group of people.

"More importantly, _you_ stay safe!" Phantom winked and turned to the next group: three giddy teenage girls with Phantom t-shirts, masks, handbags, makeup that looked like his fluorescent spots, notebooks to sign, and (not surprisingly), even more. Their fingernails even had blue fireballs painted on them!

"Hi girls, how are you today?" He smiled, holding out a hand to the first girl.

"Eep!" She squealed, holding out her notebook. "Just great! Wonderful!"

"How are you?" The second girl asked, bouncing on her heels.

Phantom chuckled as he signed their notebooks. "I'm doing great. Where are you from?"

The third girl piped up, "Oh, we're actually from Minnesota. We flew in just for today!"

"Wow," Phantom commented. "Well I'm glad you could make it."

"Thanks!" The three giggled. "Can we get a picture with you?"

"Absolutely." Phantom's personal cameraman stepped forward as the girls surrounded the super.

"How many pictures for you, ladies?" The man asked before snapping any pictures. "Fifteen dollars a photo."

"Three, one for each of us." The first girl replied. "Thank you!"

Phantom offered his signature smirk as the pictures were taken. He reflected on the pure genius of it—each super was given a professional cameraman or woman to handle photography for the day, but also to sell personal photos to fans. People were free to take pictures with their own cameras, but as often happened for the past decades, regular cameras or lighting tended to fail. This made up for that.

"Thank you so much!"The girls cried, ecstatic when the cameraman handed them the photos and they paid him in cash.

"Not a problem ladies." The man smiled and stepped away to take more pictures.

Phantom turned back to the girls, "So who else are you going to see?"

"Well we love your team, so we were heading to Bolt next I think…" One girl said, looking around. "He's next in line right?"

"Right." Phantom nodded, looking down the block with them. His team was stretched down in sequential order to signify their work together, but not by status. That he was first on the block didn't make him better than them (at least not by his standards). Who knew if the person who organized this was biased or not?

"Hey hey! Phantom!" A man's voice called from the crowd.

Phantom swiveled to locate him and the man jumped up and down from behind a rope keeping the crowd back. "Can you demonstrate some Blue Fire for us?"

Phantom bit his lip. Supers were allowed to demonstrate their powers, but there were specific tents where they could do that to prevent accidents from happening. He couldn't leave his post yet; if he did, everyone from here to Manhattan would follow.

His hesitation made the immediate crowd surrounding him go quiet in anticipation. He raised an eyebrow with a smirk, watching the man's growing hopeful excitement.

"Phantom!"

He looked over to see Bolt standing there with a palm raised and he smiled. Flicking a hand down, his wrist engulfed in flame—the crowd began to scream in excitement.

He drew his arm back and threw the orb high into the sky, leaving behind a trail of black sulfuric smoke. Bolt raised a fist, sending a lightning bolt at the orb; the two powers collided and exploded high above the head of the crowd. The result was a mix of bright blue and yellow chemicals and a massive boom—the spectacle looked similar to a firework. This was a trick the two supers had discovered a few months before while sitting in the Robinson's living room—Franny wasn't pleased with the resulted mess.

The crowd clapped in ecstasy but the supers declined their exclamations for "more", saying they couldn't risk anymore.

Bolt took a comfortable stance beside Phantom on the sidewalk and asked, "How's it going?"

"Well. How about you?" Phantom slapped his friend's shoulder.

"Not too shabby. Getting tired of signing my name though!" Bolt joked.

Conversation lapsed for a second when a photographer gestured for more pictures. Phantom made a few goofy poses, pretending to blow off Bolt's head with an orb, making the crowd laugh. The cameraman soon left and the next person in Phantom's line hopped forward.

"H-hello Ph-Phantom. It is a p-p-pleasure to meet you p-p-personally." The man squeaked.

Phantom had to put on a tight smile to keep from laughing at the man. He was a small, plump man, probably in his late 50s, wearing small round glasses and a white trench coat. He carried with him a clipboard and pen, ready to take notes—not uncommon on Hero Day. Doctors and scientists alike came from all over the world to visit and "study" the supers.

"The pleasure is mine." Phantom said good-naturedly. "What can I help you with today?"

"W-well, I came to actually ask if… erm-" The man stuttered, glancing nervously at Bolt then back at Phantom. He swallowed thickly when Bolt raised an eyebrow. "Could you demonstrate your Blue Fire?"

When Phantom began to decline, he interrupted, "I just mean in your hand; no need to throw any orbs…"

Phantom extinguished the sigh he wanted to release and thrust his right hand toward the ground. As his hand was engulfed in flame, the man's eyes bulged in awe. Then he began scribbling notes onto his clipboard, glancing from the board and Phantom's flaming hand. Phantom had to give a lop-sided smile at the almost ridiculous man. He didn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he wasn't about to question it.

Bolt however had other intentions. "What's your name, sir?"

Although Bolt asked the question with no suspicion in his voice, the man jumped, nearly dropping his clipboard. "I-I… erm…" Blinking quickly, he turned to Phantom and gave a weak smile. "Th-thank you so much for your time. I must be going now. Yes, goodbye."

And with that, the small, strange man turned and practically ran into the crowd and disappeared.

The closest fans stared after him as dumbly as Phantom and Bolt. Phantom had the most puzzled expression that made his photographer chuckle and snap a picture.

"Seriously Bill?" He playfully glared at the man, who merely shrugged and walked away.

Phantom extinguished his flame and looked back at where the strange little man had been. "I gotta say, that was… weird."

"I think a more suitable word would be suspicious." Bolt commented under his breath.

Phantom faced him with an eyebrow raised. "You don't think he was just nervous?"

"Enough to practically pee his pants every time he made eye contact with us?" Bolt asked incredulously. "Seriously, we're nice guys. You'd think he was talking to Cynder when she is livid."

"I heard that!" A red-haired woman engulfed in flame landed behind them suddenly. She smiled as her flame extinguished to reveal her red and white accented suit. "Who's peeing their pants?"

Phantom chuckled and slapped Bolt on the arm, "Nothing to worry about. He's just being paranoid-"

"You're seriously going to do that?" Bolt asked and lowered his voice, leaning closer to them. "You've got a lot to handle right now. Don't say it's nothing because at this point with everything going on, you can't take everything as _nothing_."

"Bolt, you're going to start freaking people out if you don't calm down." Cynder said lightly and smiled as if one of them had told a joke. But they caught the seriousness in her voice.

Phantom glanced around to notice some crowd members indeed watching their little huddle with nervous interest.

"She's right; we'll talk more about it later." Phantom pulled Bolt into a one-arm hug. "But I'm sure it's nothing."

Bolt rolled his eyes and shoved off his arm. "If there's one thing I learned a long time ago Phantom, it's this:" He paused, launching himself into the air and hovering above them for a second. "Never assume."

He turned and flew back to his booth without looking back. Fans all around snapped pictures of the super in his black-and-lightning bolt-accented suit before he landed out of sight.

Phantom tisked his tongue, "Attitude attitude."

"He's right though," Cynder raised an eyebrow. "Don't get cocky or reckless."

Phantom rolled his eyes with a grin, "You people are getting as bad as Invisigirl."

Cynder smirked, "Hm, I wonder where that came from."

"Ha!" Phantom laughed as she engulfed herself in flames and took off towards her own booth. He had to phase through some of her flames, making fans' cameras erupt even more.

He shook his head at her left behind trail of smoke and turned to the next fan standing in line. He just couldn't see that little man as being a threat.

**Xxx**

The little man opened the door, entered the room as quickly as he could and firmly closed the door behind him. He walked through the dark corridor swiftly, having memorized the twists and turns of his small, yet functional lab years ago. He set down his briefcase on a table and began emptying the contents.

"Clipboard, notes, samples…" he muttered to himself in the dark room.

A single lamp snapped on from his office desk ten feet away, making him yelp in surprise at the intruder. His face whitened when he saw who it was.

"S-sir," He nodded, acknowledging the man. The little doctor tensed when a dark clad man wearing a mask exited the inky dark shadows and took a threatening stance beside the desk. The doctor swallowed, "G-Ganger."

"Doctor," Ganger bit out.

"Ganger, relax. You're frightening the man." The man sitting behind the desk leaned forward, light reflecting off his face. His eye sockets collected shadows, giving him a scary air in the darkness.

The doctor swallowed and looked down at the table in front of him, but offered, "C-can I offer you some tea or coffee, sir?"

"No, thank you." The man smiled. "I will, however, take your notes from your little mission today."

The doctor looked up in surprise. "B-but, you didn't want them for another few days-"

"Hand them over, you fool! I don't have time to waste!" The man bellowed, a thin strip of blonde hair falling into his eyes. He quickly pushed it back to rejoin its gelled brothers.

The doctor fumbled through his pile of papers and located his clipboard. He purposefully walked around Ganger to avoid him and handed the paper over to the man. He snatched it hungrily and quickly read over the notes.

A few seconds of silence ensued before the paper drifted to the desk. The man clasped his hands in front of his face and smiled tightly at the doctor. "That's it?"

The doctor nodded discreetly and nervously nodded.

"You waited in line for probably three hours at the very least to talk to him, and that's all you bring me?" The man stood and walked around the desk toward him.

"Mr. Smith, please!" The doctor retreated, bumping into a table he forgot was there. Ganger had advanced and grabbed the elderly man's wrist. "Please, give me more time, I'll get what you need-"

"No." Smith smiled patiently. "You have wasted enough of my time. Precious time that I need to fulfill-" He stopped and exhaled a short laugh. "No, Ganger will retrieve for me what I need from now on. You, on the other hand," He smiled sinisterly, "_You_, Dr. Abraham, are coming with me."

**Xxx**

Violet sipped her cup of ice water the next morning, biding her time before she had to leave for her appointment. She felt sicker than sick that morning, but she was relieved that she'd actually be feeling sick for the doctor; she could identify symptoms better that way.

Todayland's Daily News was the only thing worth watching at the moment, so she listened to the anchor tell story after story. It was fun to watch some behind the scenes work on Hero Day the previous day; she smiled when Phantom and various other familiar faces came to the screen, showing off powers or signing books.

Glancing at her watch, she prepared to turn off the television when the anchor moved to Breaking News. She announced that a man named Dr. Miles Abraham, a free lance scientist specializing in the studies of super powers, had gone missing.

Violet's attention was grasped instantly. The man's photo was shown as the anchor described the last time he was seen. She studied his picture; he looked small, kind, gentle, if not a bit shy or timid. Probably why he was a free-lance worker; he more than likely didn't like working with people.

"Hm." She hummed to herself absently as the anchor continued with a number to call authorities if he was found. She turned off the television, filing away the information to tell Wilbur and the team later, just in case. But for now she had more important things going on.

"To the doctor's…" she murmured as she grabbed her keys and walked out the door. She sighed as she got into the car, hoping whatever she had was nothing serious.

**Oh, and sorry it is a little bit shorter than usual. I think it turned out good though. Usually my chapter lengths are at least 12 pages; this time I wasn't feeling it haha If I ever pack too much into chapters let me know! I don't want to overwhelm anyone, although I'm sure it is me who is being overwhelmed; you guys probably couldn't care less as long as you get a decent update, am I right? Haha**

**I also have it assumed that Wilbur didn't tell Violet about the curious doctor on Hero Day, so she doesn't tell him about the news update until later.**

**Please leave a review & give me some feedback ;) Thanks guys! Next chapter coming soon!**

**~EmmerzK**


	5. Little Wonders

**Yeah, it's short, but it's to the point ;) I was listening to the MTR song Little Wonders when I was writing this, and therefore got my chapter title. It fit wonderfully.**

**Well, get crackin! Cute chapter, here ya go!**

**Chapter 5: Little Wonders**

Over the dinner table, Wilbur smiled over at Violet while various family members talked about their busy, or not so busy, days. Tallulah and Laszlo endlessly bickered among themselves on his paintings being better than her hat collection, or vice versa, Grandma Lucille and Aunt Billie quickly doused the flames coming off Grandpa Bud's green plaid trousers (as he'd not yet perfected those kinks), and Franny talked with Cornelius about a new composition she was working on with Frankie.

Violet was quiet as usual, listening to as many of the conversations as she could without getting overwhelmed, but she seemed in a brighter mood than usual—constantly smiling, an extra spark of light in her eyes. He didn't know what it was that was different, but if it made her smile, he liked it.

Maybe it was the fact that Bob, Helen and the boys were visiting. They came over once a month to visit and have a meal with the Robinsons. After dinner Dash usually challenged Gaston and Aunt Billie to a race and Jack-Jack would usually hang out with Carl or Art in his pizza delivery ship.

However Franny also seemed in a happier mood, although he figured it was due to her new composition. It wasn't easy to write music; once you got it right, it would be exciting!

Violet met his eyes and she smiled wider, making him grin. "What's with you today?" he asked, unable to keep the question silent any longer.

"Oh nothing…" Violet looked away but kept smiling.

Wilbur leaned on an arm and slumped forward. "Oh come now, you can't hide it from me forever. What is it?"

"Patience is a virtue," Violet sang, looking across the table to her mom. Helen covered her mouth to hide her smile, but failed miserably. Wilbur frowned when he noticed Franny send a wink in Helen's direction.

What did the women know about that he didn't?

"Alright, what's going on?" Wilbur turned back to Violet with an eyebrow raised. He was surprised by her slightly nervous expression.

"N-nothing," she stuttered, quickly clearing her throat.

"Don't make me pick your brain."

"You wouldn't-Ah! Wilbur, don't!" Violet shrieked and grabbed Wilbur's wrist when he lunged at her with a finger pointed at her forehead. By now the entire family was watching the spectacle with humor, but only the couple's mothers knew what was going on.

"Then tell me what's going on or I'll hafta-" Wilbur tried to close the one-inch gap between his finger and her forehead with force and not phasing, but she proved stronger. He twisted his finger in a circular motion to get closer but it wasn't working.

"I'll tell you if you sit down," Violet smiled.

Wilbur huffed and sat back in his seat with a plop. He watched as Violet reached into a bag on the floor beside her and pulled out a small white box with a red ribbon on top; she then slid it over to him on the table top.

He looked down at it then at her. "What's this?"

"Open it," Violet smiled, trying to hide her grin but again failing.

Wilbur suspiciously glanced over at Franny and Helen again and scowled at their faces. "What is going-"

Franny interrupted, "Just open the box Wilbur!"

With a sigh, he untied the ribbon and pulled off the lid of the box. The family members all leaned forward in his or her chair to catch a glimpse of what was in the box. Wilbur stared at the contents for a moment in confusion before reaching in and pulling out…

**Xxx**

"The machine is not ready yet."

Ganger nodded in agreement, "So what do we still need?"

Smith ran a hand over his eyes and sighed, "We need more DNA. That's our first step. Without enough to power the machine, the whole mission is compromised. And we can't wait another twenty years for this to work out."

"Why twenty years?"

Smith again returned the fallen piece of hair back into its rightful place. "Long story that I'd rather not go into right now."

Ganger shrugged. He wasn't getting paid to hear stories anyway. "When do you want me to go?"

Smith paused, thoughtful. "Wait a week." When Ganger began to argue, he held up a hand, "Trust me, I want this to get done as soon as possible just as you do; I'm the one who has been waiting countless years for this, I am just as impatient, if not more. But this plan requires patience. It will be months before this is over, as I told you when you were hired."

Ganger sighed and nodded, "Why a week?"

"I want them to get comfortable. I want their first ordeal with you to be so distant in their memories that they let their guard down. It's been a few weeks already so they've got to be relaxing; wait one more week and then, strike."

"Yes sir."

**Xxx**

A pair of white shoes?

Wilbur was confused. I mean granted, they were small white shoes and they were cute, but what's the big deal? He couldn't wear these. Nobody in the family could for that matter.

To satisfy his family's curiosity, he pulled them out of the box and held them up for all to see. "Little shoes." He looked over at Violet with a blank expression. "You got me little shoes?"

Violet's face looked ecstatic, as did her mom's and Franny's. Suddenly Lucille, Billie, and Tallulah gasped and began talking in loud whispers to each other before squealing in loud excited voices.

Next was Cornelius, who gasped so loud he almost fell out of his chair. "No way," he stared at Franny. Then came Bob and the uncles, who had similar exclamations in excited voices. Dash seemed to have caught onto whatever the excitement was, but only held a hand to his forehead with a mere smile.

Wilbur stared at the crazy group in such confusion that he didn't know what to say. He looked at Violet, who kept staring at him in silence, waiting for it to hit him. Whatever _it_ was anyway.

"Wilbur!" Cornelius boomed and he jerked.

"Yes?"

Cornelius blinked and shook his head at Franny, "Now I was clueless, but heaven help the kid that is more clueless than me." Bob and many other members of the table laughed out loud.

"What!" Wilbur slumped back in his chair. "What is going on? They're just baby shoes-" Then he stopped, a thought finally blooming.

He snatched up the shoes in his hand and looked at them closer to find some sort of trick or loose string attached, but he found none.

"Wilbur?" Violet asked, nearly dying with excitement.

He looked over at her slowly. "Um…" He opened his mouth but no sound came out. Resigning himself to silence, he shut his mouth and stared at her.

Dash chuckled, breaking the silence, "I've never seen him truly speechless before." More laughs.

Something clicked in Wilbur's mind and he sat back, rubbed his eyes, then turned back to Violet. "Okay… I think something's wrong with me, I just had a vision or something, but there are not baby shoes sitting in front of me." He looked at the shoes sitting in front of him and his eyes widened.

"Holy crap." He looked between them and Violet again and again, and kept being surprised by the baby shoes. "Holy. Crap."

"Blast it Wilbur just say it!" Cornelius crowed over the family's laughter.

Wilbur gulped and looked at Violet, "We're…"

"Keep going…" Violet grinned.

"Having…"

No longer able to stay silent, Violet screamed, "WE'RE HAVING A BABY!" She lunged forward and hugged Wilbur tighter than she ever had before. The family crowed and cheered, Carl shooting fireworks all around him; everyone was celebrating, except one silent guy who still stared at the wall in shock.

Violet sat up when everyone settled down. "Well say something!" She shook his shoulders a bit.

Wilbur coughed and turned to Carl, "Hey, get me a glass of wine please. I think I'm losing my mind."

**Alright, what do you want? Boy or girl? Help me decide ;) So pumped guys! Can't wait til we get more into Smith's plot too. But that's waaaay later haha Please leave me a review! Thanks! :D**

**~EmmerzK**


	6. Focus

**Hey guys, here ya go! Chapter six :) It's a lil on the short side but we're going to be getting into some intense stuff here pretty soon. However, there is a catch:**

**I've been able to get a few chapters up lately, which is great! But I'm starting my Junior year of college and I'll be crazy busy. I don't know when I'll be able to write much, let alone when I'll be able to update chapters. So hopefully I can get stuff to you guys every so often and we won't have to wait until Thanksgiving Break!**

**But I won't make promises. Better to be straight up than make false promises, right? :) Let's check the date when I actually upload this; I'm typing this author's note on August 31, but I wrote this chapter four or five days ago. Who knows when you people will actually be reading this Lol**

**But I'm babbling. I'll try to get more to you guys soon, but no promises! Please leave me a review, spread the word, etc. etc. Thanks guys!**

**Chapter 6: Focus**

Phantom stood at the edge of Robinson Industries' rooftop staring down at the city lights below him. The cold winter air tousled his hair and sent shivers down his spine, but nothing could wipe the smile off his face.

It had been a full twenty-four hours before the prospect of being a father finally hit him full force. Cornelius had made the announcement in a huge staff meeting earlier that day, so Wilbur and Violet gained rounds of applause and congratulations for the rest of the day. But it still seemed too surreal.

Now his heart leaped in his chest almost constantly, his excitement was so high.

He raised both hands to the sky and crowed as loud as he could, "Whoo-hoo!" Nothing could bring him down—he was on cloud nine. The force of his call echoed down the streets, making a few people calling for taxis or riding in travel bubbles look around in confusion.

He let his hands drop to his sides but the grin stayed on his face. Life couldn't seriously get better. Well, except when the baby would be born of course!

Phantom shook himself as the cold finally began to register. "Brr…" he mused, walking to the other end of the roof while rubbing his gloved hands together. He gazed about the streets below him, trying to focus on any danger that might be taking place… but he sensed nothing.

He had already stopped a carjacking, saved two people from a house fire and helped the fire department douse the flames. But now he wasn't picking up anything.

"Time to keep moving," he muttered to himself. Stepping back twenty feet, he then took off at a dead sprint toward the edge of the roof. Launching himself over the thirty yard gap between buildings, he tumbled harmlessly onto the next roof. Rolling onto his feet, he kept running, jumping from building to building while searching for someone to help.

Nearing the famous Todayland Bridge twenty minutes later, he was beginning to wonder if there was any point in staying out, when he heard the crash of a vehicle. He looked toward the bridge and took off; he jogged down the sidewalk, searching for the crash. He found it soon after—a couple of blonde teenagers climbed out of the vehicle, steam hissing out from under the hood.

"Hey, you two alright?" Phantom called.

The teens jerked and backed away at his call from the dark, but their eyes widened in shock when they realized who he was. "Phantom?" the girl asked.

"Aw, no way man. Accident? Totally worth it." The boy grinned and stuck out a hand to shake Phantom's.

Phantom laughed and shook the kid's hand. "I take it you're okay then?"

"Yes, luckily," The girl nodded. "The engine just sputtered and we began to fall, so we had to land on the bridge."

Phantom nodded, looking inside at the controls in the vehicle. "Better option than open water, especially now since it's so cold." The kids nodded and shivered as the winter wind seemed to blow colder in satisfaction.

The boy eyed Phantom's suit and suddenly asked, "Aren't you cold?"

Phantom scoffed and shrugged, standing back up. "Kinda. My suit designer came up with a method to conserve body heat in cold weather or lighten the material when it's hot."

"How'd he or she do that?" The girl asked, intrigued.

"Ah," Phantom placed a finger to the side of his nose. "She wouldn't like me to share her secrets."

"Oh it _is_ a girl! It's Edna Mode isn't it?" The girl jumped up and down in excitement.

The boy scoffed, "Ha, two of the most famous super people in the world working together? Nah."

"Hey, I can dream can't I?"

Phantom rolled his eyes at their banter and smiled. "So what're your names?"

"Oh the infamous Phantom is asking my name," the girl gushed in happiness. "I'm Nancy and this is my brother Josh."

Josh smiled, "And your name is?"

Phantom snorted with a sly smile, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Well yeah, that's why I asked!"

"But what's the point of having a secret identity if I don't keep it secret?"

Josh slumped, "Touché."

Phantom smiled and cocked a head toward the city. "Come on, I'll take you guys home. I'll have a tow truck take your car to the shop and bring it to you tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Nancy asked, unsure.

"Absolutely."

As the trio walked off the bridge and into the city, Phantom radioed police about the accident to check out any damage to the bridge, and then he called a tow truck to take care of the vehicle.

Luckily the teens' home was only a ten minute walk away—and it was the best ten minutes of the kids' lives. They asked Phantom question after question from requests to see his powers to his hobbies to his favorite board game.

"So I have a question." Nancy stated as if this was her first. In fact it was her eighth.

"Fire away!" Phantom smiled from between them as they walked.

"Are you married?"

Phantom's mouth twisted in a smirk. "Why, you interested?"

He had known from the first few minutes that she blushed easy, but her face turned bright red in about an instant. "N-no, I'm just curious."

The guys laughed and Phantom pondered her question. Was it okay to give away information and/or possibly crush all her hopes and dreams? Maybe leaving her in ignorance was better.

But Josh interrupted his thoughts, "I think you are."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know, you don't seem to fit the single type. Looking at your stats, you seem to protect a lot of people, not just women. A lot of super guys who are single save a lot of girls."

"How do you know they're single? What if that's what they want you to think?" Phantom teased.

Josh paused, "I'd hoped you wouldn't say that."

Phantom smiled and decided to humor them. "I am married."

Their faces brightened and more questions poured from them. "What's she like? Is she pretty? How old is she? Is she a super too? How long have you known her?"

Phantom laughed and held his hands on each of their shoulders to steady them. "Whoa now, don't hurt yourselves." When they calmed down a bit, he sighed happily. "She's… amazing. And gorgeous. She's the same age as me, which will remain hidden. I've known her for…" he counted in his head for a moment, "Almost five years. And if she's a super?" He smiled mysteriously, "She could be."

"Oh she is!"

"What if that's just what I want you to think?"

"Ahh supers!"

Phantom laughed when his phone suddenly rang. He pulled it off his utility belt and looked at the caller I.D. frequency. It was Conner calling; there wasn't a super alert on the call, so he knew it wasn't a hands-down emergency.

But he still answered using super names. "Hey K9, what's up?"

The teens gasped, "Oh he's talking to K9! Hi K9!"

Conner breathed a laugh, "Got a couple fans with ya?"

"Yeah, long story." Phantom gave Josh a playful nudge with his elbow. "What's up?"

"I got some intel on Ganger for you."

Phantom stopped walking, his face suddenly hard at the name. "About time." The teens looked at him curiously when he stopped, but he quickly smiled and kept walking with them.

"Yup. It's nothing huge, I still don't know where he is, but if you want to come over whenever you're done out there, I'll show you what I found out."

"I'll be over in half an hour."

"Great, later dude."

Phantom hung up the phone and put it back on his belt. "Everything okay?" Nancy asked nervously.

"Oh yeah," Phantom waved an arm out. "Nothing we can't handle."

Josh and Nancy stopped walking and Phantom was a full two steps in front of them before he realized it. He turned and asked what was wrong when they smiled and pointed at the apartment complex to their left. "We live in there with our parents."

"Oh!" Phantom smiled, jotting down the address and taking note of the car garage behind the building. He'd send the location information to the tow truck for later. "Well, I guess this is it then."

"Yeah…" They both nodded sadly, clearly not wanting to leave.

Phantom smiled and reached into his pocket, an idea blooming. "Hey, if either of you needs help with anything, use this." He handed Josh a small, three inch homing device with a blue fluorescent button on the center. "This will last for about a year before it automatically shuts off for good, but you can call me for help and I'll find your location with a touch of that blue button. I'll be able to come help you as soon as I can."

The teens nodded and thanked him for bringing them home before bidding him goodbye and walking up the steps into the apartment. He stayed rooted to the spot until the door closed behind them, then he turned and walked down the street at a brisk pace toward Conner's apartment, thankfully only a few blocks away.

**Xxx**

"Can I get you a drink or something? I know it's as cold as the arctic out there."

"Nah, I'll be okay until I get home. Thanks though." Wilbur sat down at one of Conner's barstools, having changed into his normal attire outside before coming in. "What did you find?"

"Well," Conner led him to his small living room with one couch, a desk and some chairs, which was entirely littered with laundry, some dirty dishes and trash, computer gadgets, programming equipment, and nearly six monitors and computers set up in a wide circle throughout the room. Conner was a bachelor with a wonderful knack with computers and technology; he usually dug up any hidden information for the team when it came to suspects of crime or villains. He was even so good as to hack into top government files (although he tried to avoid that when possible).

On the first computer screen, Conner had uploaded a government file that listed various villains and their whereabouts, weaknesses, and general information. Ganger was eighth on the list and not much was listed, but one thing did strike interesting.

"He's French?"

"Apparently he grew up there and is therefore fluent in French, but he doesn't actually carry an accent himself. Random huh?"

"Who were his parents?"

"I haven't been able to find that out yet, if it's available anywhere."

Wilbur scratched his chin, "Does it list any of his weaknesses?"

"No, but I did find out that he's excellent with weaponry, especially bombs."

Something clicked in his mind, but Wilbur couldn't put a finger on it. "Bombs…"

Conner raised an eyebrow but still stared at his screen. "What about bombs?"

"French… bombs…" Wilbur pushed a hand to his forehead, trying to remember. "Ohhh who am I thinking of?"

"Dame de la Mort?" Conner guessed.

"The Lady of Death? Please…" Wilbur shook his head. As ruthless as she sounded, she actually was caught within a year of her announcement to the world of her terror. "No… it's a guy… Man, I think Bob would know."

Conner thought hard and began typing away and the next computer. Wilbur kept racking his brain, "Dahh it's on the tip of my tongue!"

"Bomb Voyage?"

"YES!" Wilbur nearly jumped out of his chair. "Oh sweet relief."

Conner chuckled and then turned to seriousness again. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"I don't know. Ganger being of French descent and specializes in bombs, I mean what if his dad is Bomb Voyage?"

"Who cares?" Conner waved a hand in front of Wilbur's highly concentrated face. "Bomb Voyage was caught over ten years ago, paid his sentence and has yet to return to the life of villainy to this day. You can seriously go to his house and ask him stories about it—or email him on his blog. But if they were related, I somehow doubt there'd be anything else connecting the dots there."

Wilbur nodded, "Yeah, you're right. But I'm not ruling it out. It might be a good thing to just keep tabs on for future notice, maybe even shoot the CIA a note that-"

"Wilbur, focus. Ganger attacked you, not Bomb Voyage. Let's stick to plan A, then we'll work our way down the alphabet as we go. Okay?"

Wilbur sighed, "Okay. Okay."

"Sadly that's all the information I have on him right now. Like Danny said, he travels around so much and doesn't leave behind many loose strings, it's hard to get a lot on him. But I'll keep working on it."

"Alright, thanks." Wilbur stretched and yawned before looking at the nearest clock. It was almost midnight. "Yikes, I better get home. Vi's going to kill me."

"Congrats by the way." Conner winked as he stood.

"Thanks."

"You excited?"

"Heck yeah. It'll be a long nine month's wait. Anyway, I'll see you later." Wilbur walked to the door and grasped the handle, then paused. "Oh and Conner?"

"Yeah?" Conner looked up from his computer screen and stopped typing for a millisecond.

Wilbur smirked and shook his head, "Two things: Do your laundry and get yourself a girlfriend."

"Okay chief."

**P.S. The Bomb Voyage stuff was really random but I thought it was a fun, random connection. Who knows honestly, but maybe he'll pop in the story later on ;) Also, I liked the idea of Conner being a computer freak, not very clean and loving the bachelor life and Wilbur tells him, "Get a girlfriend." Haha I'll put some thought to that situation there; maybe I can conjure up a hot girl for him! But not a girl who turns into a cat or something guys, that'd be weird and repetitive Lol**

**I originally figured these two teens, Josh and Nancy, wouldn't be important… but I'm starting to randomly include them in the story more. I think it'll be interesting ;)**

…**I'm babbling again. This was supposed to be a P.S. …**

**I'm going now. Chapter 7 coming soon!**

**~EmmerzK**


	7. A Guilty Man

**Okay guys, I hope this chapter won't be too much for you. I tried to tone it down a lot, but I still feel like I'm stepping on pins and needles a bit… You'll see what I mean. Enjoy guys!**

**Chapter 7: A Guilty Man**

Over the next few days Conner relayed the new information on Ganger to the Super Archives, which automatically transmitted to each super in the surrounding area. Everyone was keeping a sharp eye out for the villain, but he hadn't been seen since that first attack on Phantom almost a month prior.

Little did they know the danger that was lurking.

Wilbur stood in the main laboratory of Robinson Industries, which overlooked half the city with thirty foot high windows. With him worked the countless scientists with their individual projects, and on the far side of the room was a testing room for new inventions. Cornelius was there now with a few fellow scientists testing out a new robot model similar to Carl, but more improved.

The clicking of high heels caught his attention as Violet walked up to him, studying a few papers. "Two questions," she said, studying the papers intently. "Mrs. Lowry on the eighth floor wants to know if you would prefer black or white furniture in your office."

"Whichever one's cheaper," Wilbur replied without hesitation. "Next question?"

"Blue or pink?"

It took him a second, but her smile and twinkle in her eyes portrayed what she meant. "Oh," he smiled and took more time to think on this answer. He settled on a shrug, unsure. "Still too early for me to know what I want yet. What do you want?"

Violet sighed with a content smile, "I'm fine with whichever. People just keep asking me what you want."

Wilbur wrapped an arm around her as he faced the room again, "He or she will be ours either way. That's good enough for me." Violet smiled and kissed him on the cheek in response before walking back to her desk.

He exhaled happily as he watched her, then joined Cornelius in the testing room.

"Everything okay?" Cornelius asked as he walked in.

Wilbur nodded, "Yup, why?"

"Just curious. Can't tell when things are good or bad with you two."

"Haha, very funny."

"Can you hand me that screwdriver over there?" Cornelius asked, nodding in the general direction of the tool but not taking his eyes off the robot.

Wilbur handed him the tool and watched his father tweak a few gears and screws for the operation pack on the robot. The improved machinery looked a bit more professional than Carl. "So what's the difference between Carl and this robot?"

"Don't you pay any attention in meetings?" Cornelius smirked.

"Sorry, pregnant wife on the mind."

"Excuses, excuses," Cornelius rolled his eyes, moving around to the back of the robot. "The metal is more durable and indestructible, kind of like the metals the feds use in prisons now to keep supers at bay."

Wilbur frowned, thinking about the robots in the fight against Magnum. In a quiet voice, he asked, "You sure that's a good idea?"

Cornelius gave him a short sidelong glance, but said, "Nothing can penetrate these robots and they're butlers, not military. The best weapon they could use would be a fork."

Wilbur breathed a short laugh, but he was still a tad uneasy about it. If a villain could control many a robot, particularly indestructible robots, the consequences could be disastrous.

He didn't put it past his father to be careless, but Cornelius didn't think like a super either—he wasn't a super after all. Smartest man on the planet yes, but not a super.

Cornelius stood a minute later. "Alright, let's give him a whirl." Tapping a button inside the robot's operational pack, he soon came to life. The robot beeped and whirred for a minute before finally beginning to speak—to which several scientists across the room were furiously taking notes on the results (the reason for so many scientists all taking notes at the same time was because Cornelius liked variety in feedback).

"Oh hello sir," the blue-gray colored robot said with a British accent and waved. "My name is Mack. How can I be of service for you today?"

"Here's the test," Cornelius muttered to his son before replying, "Fix my friend a vanilla milkshake, a ham and cheese sandwich on wheat and a bowl of sweet potato fries with rosemary aioli on the side."

"Right away sir!" Mack exclaimed with a smile before various parts on his abdomen flew open and he began to fix the order. Cornelius grasped Wilbur's arm and pulled him back a few feet, just in case something went awry.

Usually Wilbur and Violet worked in diagnostics, computers, chemistry or a few other departments, depending on the month where they were assigned, but they were gradually working their way up into working in Cornelius' lead laboratory where the real creations came from. This was the first prototype experiment that Wilbur had seen in a long time.

Hey, even the son of the CEO's has to work hard.

A few minutes later, Mack had the entire order made exactly as Cornelius requested. Mack was then asked to hand out the orders to various people, the milkshake going to Violet (who was delighted to have the sugar), and he again performed the requests without any errors.

Cornelius looked pleased, "Alright Mack, you finally seem to be making some real progress. Let's get you some more complicated tasks ready and we'll see how you do."

"Wonderful sir! I'll be looking forward to it." Mack smiled and stood at attention for when Cornelius would give him a new order.

Cornelius turned to Wilbur with a smile, "We're on the right track."

Wilbur meant to give a positive remark, but a sudden pain bloomed in his skull right behind his eyes. He blinked hard and pressed a hand to his eyes, in shock for a moment from the suddenness of it. Cornelius frowned and grasped his arm, "You alright?"

"Ahh…" Wilbur looked up and squinted, hoping the random headache would go away. "Yeah, sudden migraine... I'll be okay."

Cornelius nodded, "Alright, get something to drink. You know the policy on migraines; give it an hour and if you still have it, go home." He pointed at his son sternly before walking away.

Migraines were something serious in this time since doctors discovered the consequences of them. Big corporations, like R.I., set up policies to make their workers go home after an hour or more of working with a migraine. The less stress and more rest, the sooner the person would be able to go back to work, but it was harmful for the individual and the work they're attempting to accomplish if they tried to work through it.

Wilbur nodded and began walking out of the testing area when his phone began vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out, a hand pressed to his temple as he tried to read the caller ID.

"Unknown…" he mused, then hit the send key. "Robinson."

"Hello Wilbur," an eerie voice greeted into the receiver.

Caught off guard, but being careful, Wilbur mosied away from people toward Violet's desk so she could hear, and asked, "Yes, who am I speaking to?"

"Oh I think you know."

Something about this guy sounded familiar… The darkness in the man's voice—calm, confident, yet sinister enough to send shivers down your spine or curdle your blood…

_Ganger._

Subtly, Wilbur made a serious look at Violet, who instantly knew something was up. Wilbur regained composure and asked in a low voice, "What do you want?"

Ganger breathed a chuckle, "I want you to understand the gravity of the situation. You think you're all good, able to save people from any situation. Able to keep your family safe, especially that pretty wife of yours."

Wilbur glanced at Violet in protection, as if Ganger could see him. "What-"

Ganger continued, "You think that because it has been a month since we last met that that was our only run-in? Well I want you to understand that you're wrong. Ha, you're so wrong. And I'm going to prove to you today that no matter what kind of power you hold, absolutely nothing within every cell of your body can save everyone. You can make promises to people… but how reliable are you really?"

A pause.

"Wilbur?" Cornelius asked worriedly from his side with a concerned expression. Violet was standing on his opposite side. When did they move around him?

Wilbur's mouth was dry, his heart was pounding, not to mention his head. The migraine was growing worse by the second and his sixth sense began to kick in. Again, before he could speak, Ganger finalized his speech; he could almost hear the smirk in his voice as he said, "Enjoy the show."

Click.

The call ended; Wilbur began to pull his phone away from his ear when two loud bangs were heard from outside.

And the large blue and yellow building across the street from them began to shutter.

It all happened so fast—before they knew it, smoke flowed down the streets as the building began to descend.

"No." Violet gasped, leaning against the window. "No, no, no!"

Cornelius was rooted to the spot in shock, people around the lab began screaming and running around, trying to evacuate the building. Wilbur sank to his feet, his hands clutching his hair at the pain in his head from his sixth sense; but his eyes didn't leave the chaos.

His vision began to swim before he realized his rapid breathing. He pried his eyes down to the floor and forced himself to calm down, to try to control his powers before his eyes glowed uncontrollably, or more importantly, Blue Fire erupted from his hands.

Violet was still at the window, Cornelius still standing beside him, the scientists still freaking out behind him. The super in him finally kicked in.

He stood suddenly and said over the noise in a shaky voice, "I have to get down there. Dad, take Violet home. That's an order, I don't care how you do it or get there, but get there _quickly_ and _do not_ stop."

Cornelius, white as a sheet, nodded and pulled Violet away from the window before dragging her to the nearest exit. Violet didn't object but willingly went. She was brave; she had always been brave. But this… she couldn't handle this.

Wilbur hit the "Emergency" button on his homing device, alerting all supers in the city of extreme trouble before he turned toward the scientists.

Whistling at a very high pitch with his fingers, the screaming scientists stopped and looked at him. "Stop screaming and get out! Evacuate, people, go!" He yelled, pushing them all towards the exits.

When he was the last one out of the lab, he slipped through a wall when nobody was watching or no security cameras were nearby, activated his super suit, and raced to the scene.

**Xxx**

Five hours later Phantom was crouched on the cracked asphalt, his hands covering his mouth as he tried to stay calm. The shock at everything that had happened, all that he had seen, began to register and it was all he could do to not crawl into a ball and cry.

He came close many times.

Not that he would've cared what people thought, seeing a well-known super cry. Many supers were already; most people were in general. No, it was the fact that if he started, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop. He had to keep it together until he couldn't take it another minute.

He had to be at least a little thankful that only one building was bombed at the foundation and fell… but it was one too many.

Nearly seven-hundred people worked in that business building… There were few survivors.

His throat began to tighten again and he closed his eyes, exhaling and trying to stem the images… but to no avail. No one would sleep that night. He was no exception.

Most of his team was still around, searching the wreckage with firefighters, EMT's, police, military, FBI and anyone willing to help. Supers were there helping as well. He was previously helping scour through the wreckage, but had stop half an hour ago.

Many supers were searching nearby buildings for bombs, but the hope was that if any more buildings were to be destroyed today, it would have happened already.

A few police officers' conversation from nearby interrupted his thoughts, giving him a respite from the stress… until he heard what they were saying.

"How could this happen? Seriously, what did those people do to deserve that?"

"History repeats itself gentleman." Phantom mused, still crouched to the ground, his voice scratchy and tired from the smoke and debris clogging the air. "This isn't the first time this has happened."

"That isn't exactly encouraging, _Phantom_," the officer spat at him.

"What do you want me to say then, huh?" Phantom shouted and whirled on the officer, catching the attention of many. "Do you want me to smile and say that everything's hunky-dory and that we're going to be _fine_? No, because it's not!

You want to know how this could happen? People are evil. All that nonsense about people being inherently good is a bunch of garbage because people are evil. True, not everyone would blow up a building, but you know what, we all screw up even in the little things. But it's okay because we're not as bad as them, right? No, no wrong is acceptable."

Phantom took a long, deep breath to try to calm down. Then he shook his head to continue his spiel, "No. This is all not okay. So don't expect me to go all Hallmark channel on you, because that isn't how life works. Now make yourself useful and find something to do."

Phantom turned to walk away, but only made it a few steps. The officer said in a challenging tone, "So what are you doing then? Standing around, that's real helpful."

Phantom stopped and slowly turned around. Bolt and Cynder stepped closer to them in case a breakup was needed, as did Chief McGinnis. "Lieutenant, step down." He warned gruffly.

Phantom smirked, now standing directly in front of the young officer. "No it's fine chief. He wants to know what I'm doing. So I'll show him."

"Phantom!" Bolt exclaimed as the super thrust a hand into the officer's forehead. Phantom closed his eyes and projected the thoughts and feelings he had been feeling the past five hours and showed him specifically the amount of energy he was expending to find bombs throughout the surrounding buildings.

Phantom yanked his hand out and the officer's partner and Chief McGinnis jumped forward to stabilize the now-pale lieutenant. Phantom spoke in a snappy tone, "I'm casting out all of my energy resources trying to locate more bombs. I've been doing it since I got here. Now that you fully understand the complexity of what I do, perhaps you would like to take a seat and watch us the rest of us work."

McGinnis placed a hand on Phantom's shoulder, "Easy. I'll take care of it."

Phantom stepped away, seething, and turned to everyone else in the clearing, all clearly watching. "Anyone else want to question me? No? Okay, then we all have a job to do. Let's get to it, the people in there are more important than _petty discussion_." Phantom directed the last two words at the officer, who was white as a sheet and stumbling away with his employer.

Bolt took a move to grab Phantom's arm, but he snatched it away and stalked off from the group, seething under his breath.

He would need to file everything he knew to the FBI and supers. Not only because he was a witness, but also because he was a direct part in what happened. Ganger used those people's lives as a tool against him, to prove that he couldn't save everyone. Today, he didn't save anyone from that wreckage…

And that made him feel like the guiltiest man on the planet.

**Okay guys, I told you intense was coming. I want to start off by saying I wanted something drastic, something huge; I know it hits a little close to 9/11 and I sincerely hope I didn't make it too vivid. I tried to keep it emotional obviously, but not so much that people are offended or in tears. I would never take something like 9/11 and make it something petty because it definitely was NOT. So this is just for clarification.**

**Let me know what you think; if you guys think I shouldn't have gone this direction AT ALL, please tell me. If enough people don't like it, I can delete the chapter and come up with something else. Seriously, tell me.**

**But there will be more intense stuff coming, Ganger and his boss aren't done yet! BUT nothing as drastic as this—well, okay, not for a long time if anything huge happens, but it won't be hundreds of people again. Not like that. You'll see my plot laid out in chapters to come, but this is as drastic as it's going to get.**

**Anywho, I'll keep working on the next chapter!**

**~EmmerzK**


End file.
